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Do you share poems at your story time? Have you danced to a poem?  Pretended you were a fish writing a poem in the ocean? Or maybe you crunched and munched along with a noisy food poem?While yelling out words and acting out the poem, poetry at story time incorporates the Early Literacy Skills and encourages families to be silly together.  Add one or two poems to your story time theme each week.

Poetry Pocket Song: (Tune: Old MacDonald Had a Farm)
Here’s my poetry pocket with something inside.
What could it be?
I’ll open it up and take a look.
Tell me what you see?
(Possible felt items: A Pizza!  A Penguin!  A Ball! A Fish! A Kite!)

How it works: 
Sing the poetry pocket song, at the end of the song pull out a felt shape, have everyone yell out what it is, (It’s a kite!).  Then share the title of the poetry book and author.  Have everyone stand up.  Are you ready?  Explain what the movement or word they will say then read the poem.  For example: In the book Lullaby & Kisses Sweet: Poems to Love with Your Baby Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, read the poem, ‘Up in the Air’ by J. Patrick Lewis, have everyone act out each object-A leaf, a kite, a ball, a bird, a cloud and a swing.  “A bird on a the wing,” (flap your arms and fly like a bird).  Depending on the poem have everyone repeat the words after you or act out the poem while you’re reading it.
Read the poem twice.

Supplies:  Felt board (big or small), Big felt pocket shape-any color, multiple felt objects and children’s poetry books.

Sheila Grier, Librarian at Deschutes Public Library created a big blue felt poetry pocket for me.  The song is originally from Heather McNeil, Public Services Manager-Here’s my bag with something inside. (I switched it to here’s my poetry pocket with something inside.)  Thank you Sheila and Heather!

Some of the children in your audience might be hearing the word poetry for the first time.  Invite parents/guardians and more to explore the poetry section after story time.  Create several mini-displays during the month of April highlighting poetry books to read at home for ages 0-5.

Explore Poetry Paige’s Pocket Story Time book list on Rifflebooks.

The following photos are a collection of my favorite poetry books, each flannel object matches up with a poem that invites interaction-making poetry come alive.

Hopefully, you will be inspired to find your own favorites, yell out new words, and develop new ways to make poems jump out of books.

A few past ALSC Poetry Paige blog posts.

• Poetry Ideas
• Poetry Blogs
• School Poems

Please share your favorite poems for story time in the comments below.

Paige Bentley-Flannery is a Community Librarian at Deschutes Public Library. For over fifteen years–from Seattle Art Museum to the New York Public Library to the Deschutes Public Library-Paige’s passion and creative style for art, poetry and literature have been combined with instructing, planning, and providing information. Paige is currently serving on the ALSC Notable Children’s Book Committee, 2015 – 2017. She is a former Chair of the ALSC Digital Content Task Force and member of the ALSC Great Websites Committee.

The post Poetry Paige’s Pocket appeared first on ALSC Blog.

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The month of August is a hybrid of sorts as we transition from our summer reading program to the traditional activities planned for the new school year.  When August 1^st rolls around, do you breathe a sigh of satisfaction after the completion of your successful summer reading club, or do you still have weeks and weeks left of the summer rush before the children return to school? What does your library do with August?

To Continue Summer Reading or to Conclude Summer Reading: That is the Question

In years past, our summer reading program ended on July 31^st.  While June and July are much busier months in terms of the foot traffic we receive, there are still weeks left to most children’s summer vacation.  This year we extended our summer reading club to August 15^th to allow children and their families more time to participate in our reading program and to collect their prizes.  What is your last day to conclude your summer club?

Less Programs, More Planning

Our weekly scheduled story times take a break after July 31^st until the 1^st of September.   While we do temporarily discontinue our weekly story times, we offer the occasional preschool special, school-age program, or teen club to bring people into our libraries.  With more flexibility in scheduling due to less programming, staffing the desks becomes easier even with staff members on vacation.  We also focus our attention on our fall programming sessions, so we are able to hit the ground running when our story times resume and our special programs increase.  Is your August full of story times and outreach visits, or do you completely break from programming to best prepare for the fall?

Taking Training

It may be close to impossible to take training or make assessment a priority during those busy summer reading club months.  August is a time for renewal in terms of staffers’ professional development and is an opportunity for many of us to take in-person training, webinars, or self-paced study. It’s a necessary step for us to consider how to best enhance our own career development and also to assess the direction of our children’s libraries.  Is August a traditional training month for you, or do you focus on children’s services trainings during another time of the year?

Expanding the Vision

August is a time to recharge, to assess our services, and to plan for the fall ahead of us.   It’s an opportunity for us to consider major system initiatives and how to best streamline our efforts.  We are now working on our plan to partner with other county agencies through the Eleven Days of Love Drive for pet-supply donations.  We will include pet-themed elements in our programming as part of this collaboration.   Are there any programs or services at your library that you will implement in the future that you plan now before the kids return to school?

Within our individual libraries throughout the country, there is tremendous variation with our involvement in summer reading clubs and children’s programs during the month of August.  In your library system, August may provide the time needed to assess, evaluate, and focus on youth services training, or it may be a major programming month with a summer reading finale still on the horizon.   Please share how you address programs, services, and training at your library during the month of August.  Let’s begin a conversation in the comments below!

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Today we start with a question. Two questions, to be exact.

1. Can you count to ten?

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10”

Good!

 2. Do you know your colors?

“Red, blue, yellow, green, orange— ”

—Okay, that’s great!

“. . . pink, purple, brown, black . . .”

Let’s get started. Debut Author Sarah Jones.

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Bunnies Near and Far

by Sarah Jones

Blue Manatee Press      4/01/2014

978-1-936669-22-6

Age 1 to 4      10 pages

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“Colors. Shapes. Critters! Three concepts in one make learning fun! Inspire bedtime or story time, with this fun and educational concept book! Watch colorful native forest animals including red square owl and yellow star frog take shape, teaching basic concepts simultaneously. Rich, sweet watercolor illustrations are a delight for sharing over and over again.”

Opening 

“1 bunny near. 2 bunnies far.”

Review

Farmer Bo has lost track of his bunnies. Where could they have gone? We know 1 bunny is nearby and 2 bunnies are far off. Where did 3 bunnies go, and 4 bunnies? I saw 5 bunnies going up and 6 bunnies going down—they were on a teeter-totter. Wherever 7 and 8 bunnies went in opposite directions. Then I heard 9 bunnies singing to 10 bunnies playing an instrument. Farmer Bo does not know where any of his bunnies are. Oh, look! Farmer Bo counts as the bunnies return home. 1-one, 2-two, 3-three . . . all the way to his 10-ten musical bunnies. Wow! How many bunnies is that?

There are bunnies everywhere in Bunnies Near and Far. The situations the bunnies get into are common and recognizable by little kids. This is a fun way to learn how to count. The bunnies are cute though a tad plump and do some goofy stuff. Little kids will giggle at these bunnies on an apparent day off. I love the color of the book, which is predominately green with a few other colors tossed in on a few pages. The car is carrot orange and is somewhat shaped like a carrot. There even looks to be a smidge of green at the back of the car. I love details like this; things you would never expect. The theme of Bunnies Near and Far is more modern than most simple counting books and maybe that is what makes it so utterly charming.

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Still remember your colors. (Please do not tell me, I remember.) Let’s look at colors.

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Orange, Triangle, Fox

by Sarah Jones

Blue Manatee Press     4/01/2014

978-1-936669-21-9

Age 1 to 4     10 pages

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“Farmer Bo wants to know where his bunnies are. Some are near, some are far, some walking some in a car, and all are as cute as can be! Little ones will learn counting and opposites in this fun tale of bunnies on the go. Perfect for sharing: read and count along to find out what they’ll do next!”

Opening  

”brown circle hedgehog”

Review

Orange, Triangle, Fox is about colors, shapes, and animals. What could be more perfect than all of these concepts in one book for the youngest children? Interestingly, the shape and color become the shape of the animal and its color. The title page is orange and the shape is a triangle. The fox is an orange triangle. I think this will delight kids. The forest animals include an owl, a fox, frog, and a turtle among others. Young children will simultaneously learn about three concepts—shapes, colors, and animals—learning to process multiple stimuli. They may start looking at the world around them for animals or other objects in a certain shape. The forest animals are adorable, maybe more so because of the shape they have become.

As a set, Orange, Triangle, Fox and Bunnies Near and Far help young children learn, or reinforce, their numbers, colors, and forest animals. The books are kid shaped, just the size for little hands to hold. The pages are thick to stand up to kids excitedly turning the page. Spilt milk and blobs of jelly should wipe right off the heavy, glossy pages. At ten pages, bedtime reading of Orange, Triangle, Fox and Bunnies Near and Far can start a tradition of reading and a lifelong love of books. Both of these books are nontraditional in form, but very much traditional in content. Little ones can learn about the numbers one through ten, and about colors, shapes, and animals. Four important elements your child needs to learn, packed into two adorable books with designs by Sarah Jones. Beautiful and functional, child-sized and childproof.

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Learn more about Sarah Jones books for young children HERE.

Buy Bunnies Near and Far at Amazon—B&N—your local bookstore.

Buy Orange, Triangle, Fox at Amazon—B&N—your local bookstore.

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Meet Sarah Jones at her profile at scbwi:  http://www.scbwi.org/members-public/sarah-jones

Find more board books at the website of Blue Manatee Press:  http://bluemanateepress.com/

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ORANGE TRIANGLE FOX and BUNNIES NEAR AND FAR. Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 by Sarah Jones. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Blue Manatee Press, Cincinnati, OH.

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NEW FROM BLUE MANATEE PRESS.

 

 

 

 

Filed under: 4stars, Board Books, Debut Author, Library Donated Books, NonFiction Tagged: animals, baby, basic concepts, bedtime, Blue Manatee Press, children's book reviews, colors, counting 1 to 10, home learning, Sarah Jones, shapes, story time, toddler

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 As we inch closer and closer to those hot summer days, I’m sure many of us around the country are gearing up for months of intense crowds and extensive programming. At our eight branches of the Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center in Fayetteville, NC, we prepare for eight weeks of story times and special programming, and of course, our annual Summer Reading Club.

In previous years, we’ve organized a Summer Reading Club kick-off program for our participants, highlighting a professional programmer outside of our library system; many years we’ve featured a musician or magician to relate to our theme. Due to the content, some of these programs have been geared for children already in elementary school; many have been advertised as appropriate for all-ages. 

  This year, however, we’re making some changes. Instead of focusing on a kick-off event to celebrate our festivities this summer, we are turning toward more staff and community-driven programming at our individual locations. By forgoing the kick-off special, we are able to retain our funds for future projects and can tailor our individual programming schedule to best meet the needs of each individual branch.

Our Summer Reading Club registration still follows a traditional format as in previous years. Children from birth through fifth grade receive a reading record and keep track of every 20 minutes they read or that someone reads to them. Kids receive prizes for 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours of reading. Programming counts, too; if children attend a story time or special program, they count that time toward their reading goal.

Individual library branches plan their series of special programming for the summer, but we also rely on coordination and collaboration of our children’s programs to best utilize our time and resources as a system. We regularly partner with local community agencies; we’ve scheduled programs with a K-9 unit from the sheriff’s department and a representative from the All-American Fencing Academy. 

How has your Summer Reading Club adapted throughout the years? Does your system gear up for your summer programs with kick-off events or have those fallen by the wayside in light of your community’s needs? Which approach do you think is more effective: starting your Summer Reading Club with a kick-off presentation or beginning your summer activities with traditional story times and programs? Please share your thoughts about how you kick-off or race right into summer reading at your library!

0 Comments on Kick-off or Race Straight into Summer Reading Club? as of 1/1/1900

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Tired of reading the same books over and over?  Making story time even more fun is easier than you think with story time flash cards.  A little while ago, I made a new deck of CLUE cards to accommodate an extra player to join Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, and the gang: The Detective.  I realized that when you cut poster board into uniform rectangles and attach printed photos to them with a gluestick, you have a “Real” looking deck of whatever you please.

 

Students make flash cards all the time to help learn math, languages, and just about any other subject.  They are easy to make and best of all, though they stay the same, they recombine to be different every time!

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

 

• 1 poster board
• 1 glue stick
• Scissors
• Any group of images (use old magazines or print images from the internet)

 

Cut the poster board into uniform rectangles, trace a deck of cards if you like.  Paste the images onto one side and allow to dry.  Shuffle and “Deal”.

 

Dealing means to try to connect the cards into one story. Here is my story:

 

There once was a pair of men named Tony and Ynot.  Tony always did things forwards and Ynot always did things backwards.

 

 

One day a traveling circus arrived in Tony and Ynot’s town by boat.  They were excited to start their next show.

 

 

Unfortunately, the devil met Tony on his way to see the circus and offered him a little box.  Tony was scared and ran away.

 

 

He ran away but the devil changed into a little man and followed him everywhere he went on a donkey.  All Tony wanted was to go to the Circus.

 

 

Ynot decided that he wanted to go too and got in his upside down boat (Ynot did everything backwards) and made sure that his wife rode outside the boat (Ynot did everything backwards).

 

 

The circus performers started to unpack their unicycles and juggling pins.

 

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Tired of reading the same books over and over?  Making story time even more fun is easier than you think with story time flash cards.  A little while ago, I made a new deck of CLUE cards to accommodate an extra player to join Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, and the gang: The Detective.  I realized that when you cut poster board into uniform rectangles and attach printed photos to them with a gluestick, you have a “Real” looking deck of whatever you please.

 

Students make flash cards all the time to help learn math, languages, and just about any other subject.  They are easy to make and best of all, though they stay the same, they recombine to be different every time!

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

 

• 1 poster board
• 1 glue stick
• Scissors
• Any group of images (use old magazines or print images from the internet)

 

Cut the poster board into uniform rectangles, trace a deck of cards if you like.  Paste the images onto one side and allow to dry.  Shuffle and “Deal”.

 

Dealing means to try to connect the cards into one story. Here is my story:

 

There once was a pair of men named Tony and Ynot.  Tony always did things forwards and Ynot always did things backwards.

 

 

One day a traveling circus arrived in Tony and Ynot’s town by boat.  They were excited to start their next show.

 

 

Unfortunately, the devil met Tony on his way to see the circus and offered him a little box.  Tony was scared and ran away.

 

 

He ran away but the devil changed into a little man and followed him everywhere he went on a donkey.  All Tony wanted was to go to the Circus.

 

 

Ynot decided that he wanted to go too and got in his upside down boat (Ynot did everything backwards) and made sure that his wife rode outside the boat (Ynot did everything backwards).

 

 

The circus performers started to unpack their unicycles and juggling pins.

 

 

Tony g

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The last day of Book Week and so, sadly, the last day of my special Book Week story time. I thought I would end the week on a high, and so chose something the little toys could really have fun with.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus is not only funny, it’s also interactive. SO, while I read the text, which is mostly spoken by the pigeon, the little toys got involved by saying no to the pigeon’s repeated pleadings to be allowed to drive the bus. Their ‘no’s got louder and louder as I read. It was great fun!

So, Book Week draws to an end, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop reading to the other toys. Primula will do her part, too, in making sure the others toys get to experience the joy of great children’s books.

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For day six, I thought I’d have a change of pace and read a lovely gentle book to the other toys. We’d had a busy day and story time was delayed until the evening – which is, incidentally, why I didn’t get to post this yesterday. So, I thought a nice gentle tale would be just the go.

Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell, is a gorgeous story of three baby owls who wake to find that their mummy has gone. They wonder where she is and whether she’ll come back – which, of course, she does. There was a hush in the toy room as I read, and when, at the end of the book, the owl mummy returns, there was a gentle sigh of relief from all of the toys.

What a beautiful story – and a lovely way to finish the day.

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Now Reading: Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences
Just Finished: Pay the Piper: A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale, This is Paradise!

So, today let's talk about two fairy tale series that so far only have two books a piece. Both of these series needs to step on it and write some more books! I crave more! I am a glutton and demand you indulge me!

So, first up we have the Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tales by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple.

Both books are modern stories of our world and the world of fairy tales crash landing into each other. They are both exceedingly well written (I mean, they're Yolen, so that's a given, but I still wanted to point that out.) Both books feature original rock songs with lyrics used at appropriate times in the book, and then a chapter at the end of the book with all of the songs and their lyrics. I wish for only two things:

1. More books
2. Recordings of these songs! Adam Stemple is a rock musician, so I strongly suspect there are melodies behind these lyrics. I long to hear them.

So, first up we have Pay the Piper: A Rock 'n' Roll Fairy Tale. Gringras is the lead singer/lyricist/piper for a folk rock band (rock and reel) Brass Rat. He is also an exiled prince of Faerie and every year must pay a teind of silver, gold, or souls.

Callie is a junior high reporter who's covering the Brass Rat concert, but knows something is not quite right. After accidentally seeing Gringras charm rats with his pipe, she looks deeper into the problem, and ridiculous as it might sounds, thinks Gringras might be the Pied Piper of Hamlin...

Then, on Halloween night, all the children in town go missing. Callie knows Gringras does not have silver or gold, so must be paying in souls. Callie knows that if she ever wants to see her brother, or any of her friends again, it's up to her.

This story is well done. Alternating between Gringras's back story and the modern day narrative, we get a great adventure, and an amazing look into faerie lore-- parts of it reminded me a lot of the Faerie sections of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It's also just an awesome adventure, and it's not often we get high end adventure in a rather literary novel.

Troll Bridge: A Rock'n' Roll Fairy Tale is the follow up.

Every year, the Minnesota State Fair has twelve dairy princesses. Every year, they have their likeness carved in butter and displayed at the fair. Every year, the butter heads are then left on a bridge in a small town near Duluth. Every year, but not this year. This year, they left the butter heads at the fair. This year, all twelve dairy princesses have just disappeared off that very bridge. This year, the trolls didn’t get the butter maidens, so they claimed the real maidens.

They also took a rock and roll band made up of three brothers. Add in one mischievous fox that can talk to musicians, and you have yourself another great adventure.

This is a fun, rollicking tale of music and escape that draws on classic fairy tales and Norse mythology. I liked the explanation that the Norse mythological creatures came over in the nightmares of the long boat passengers and the hint of the battles between the Scandinavian creatures and those in Native American cosmology. I also liked how there was personality differences in the different trolls and they were complex creatures-- that's more consideration than they normally get!

I especially enjoyed the slice of Minnesota culture. I could hear the accent in the news reporters' dialogue, and I missed home. (Yeah, earlier today I said I missed Iowa. I just miss the Midwest. 3 more weeks and I'm there!)

Next up is the Twice Upon a Time series by Wendy Mass. These books take classic tales and retell the story, a chapter for the princess, and a chapter for the prince. The prince's stories are really my favorite, because we have no expectations of them before the rescue, and Mass does great work with their back story.

Twice Upon A Time #1: Rapunzel, the One With All The Hair, I originally picked this up because it was part of Wilsona's stupidly long banned book list. There is nothing wrong or bad in this book, it was just on the same page as something they objected to, so it got cut too. (These are the people that banned Clifford's Bathtime after all!)

Anyway, so Rapunzel is taken on her birthday to live in a tower. She's a little whiny and petulant-- understandable certainly, but still a bit annoying.

Benjamin is a prince who is lonely at the top. I especially liked his friendship (and issues) with Andrew the page and the difficulties (and jealousies) with his cousin Elkin. I liked the ingenuity that the boys had to show to rescue Rapunzel.

I especially liked Stephen, the little green man who is also imprisoned by the witch and helps Rapunzel.

Twice Upon a Time, No. 2: Sleeping Beauty, the One Who Took the Really Long Nap:The One that took the really long nap was even better. Mainly, because Rose didn't annoy me! Anyway, I liked Rose's frustrations with being perfect, which were even more so than Rose in Princess School, and better done, I think, but mainly because they were more fleshed out here.

I really liked Prince (he doesn't have a name). His mother has some Ogre blood in her and hates beauty. She also needs to eat living things occasionally. She's not very tender. Because of this, Prince has a hard time making friends and servants don't stay for very long.

But then Prince discovers a castle in the woods that is a perfect match for his own, but it is covered with brambles and thorns...

I want more!

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